CAPITOL HILL – Two attack submarines sent to private shipyards for routine maintenance availabilities are running a few months behind schedule. But the Navy hopes that using these new-construction yards for sub-maintenance on a regular basis will help them become reliable providers of on-time maintenance. Read More →

USS George Washington (CVN-73) will return to Japan as the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier once it completes a four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding, USNI News has learned.

Newport News Shipbuilding cut a 35-ton steel plate to kick off advance construction of the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80) on Aug. 24, 2017. Ship’s sponsors and U.S. Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles (left) and Katie Ledecky (center), along with Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin (right), signed the steel that will become part of Enterprise’s foundation. Newport News Shipbuilding photo.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — If the Navy decides to buy aircraft carriers CVN-80 and 81 together, Newport News Shipbuilding will be able to maintain a steady workload that supports between 23,000 and 25,000 workers at the Virginia yard for the next decade or so, the shipyard president told reporters last week. Read More →

The galley deck is lowered into place on board the carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN79). Newport News Shipbuilding photo.

This post has been updated to include statements from Huntington Ingalls Industries President Mike Petters and House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee chairman Rep. Rob Wittman.

THE PENTAGON – The Navy today moved towards signing the first two-carrier contract since the Reagan Administration, asking builder Newport News Shipbuilding for additional data on the cost-savings potential for buying CVNs 80 and 81 together.

The Virginia-class attack submarine North Dakota (SSN-784) is rolled out of an indoor shipyard facility at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. US Navy Photo

Sub builder General Dynamics Electric Boat has been awarded a $696.2 million contract modification for long-lead materials for the next for Virginia-class submarines – the first of the Block V attack boats.Read More →

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) departs Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) on July 21, 2017 — one day early — following a 10-month planned incremental availability. Harry S. Truman will conduct sea trials and return to its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – The Navy will rely more on private industry to help with aircraft carrier and submarine maintenance work at public shipyards, as the service seeks to keep up with growing maintenance needs and awaits a much-needed public shipyard renovation effort. Read More →

2017 began with the promise of planning for a larger fleet: at the end of 2016, the Navy announced a 355-ship requirement, and the incoming Trump Administration expressed its support for a larger military and a heftier Navy. Few concrete steps were taken this year, though, to begin a buildup – though many programs that will be pivotal to the 355-ship fleet of the future reached significant programmatic milestones in 2017.

General Dynamics Electric Boat awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding a contract worth up to $468 million to begin work on integrated product and process development for the upcoming Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine, according to an HII news release this week. Read More →

The Navy and industry must prove they can reliably build a Virginia-class attack submarine in just 60 months before talks start about increasing the quantity of boats built each year, the Navy’s top uniformed acquisition official told USNI News. Read More →